Party's values drive campaign
Cobb, LaMarche address issues that Kerry, Bush push to the side
Campaign Statement
By David Cobb & Patricia LaMarche

While the corporate press covers the presidential campaign as just another horse race and the establishment parties offer poll-driven platitudes, the Green Party's presidential campaign is focusing on the issues most important to the health, wellbeing and security of our citizens.

Of the issues, first and foremost, is the occupation of Iraq; it is time to bring our troops home now. The ill-advised decision to invade Iraq seems to have been made by an ostrich with its head in the sand.

Who else would have ignored world opinion, millions of Americans marching in the streets, reports from U.N. weapons inspectors and the fingerprints of a rabid, right-wing cabal all over the invasion plans?

Our troops' presence in this volatile region only adds to the area's political instability, helps fuel a widespread and violent resistance and continues to put young Americans in harm's way.

The connection of oil with both Iraq invasions cannot be ignored. Nor can we ignore the billions of dollars spent on our own weapons of mass destruction while schools are closing, children go hungry and toxic waste sites are left to fester.

The Green Party calls for the immediate development of public transportation and alternatives to fossil fuels such as solar, wind and biodiesel.

By developing these resources not only will we eliminate the excuse for waging war on oil-rich countries, but we'll protect the environment and create millions of new jobs in the process.

Significantly, the Green Party also calls for shifting 50 percent of the military budget to help fund schools, environmental cleanup and social services. Another measure intended to make us more safe but which, like the invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan, has had the opposite effect, is the Orwellian-named "Patriot" Act.

Pat LaMarche and David Cobb

Unlike the two parties that conspired to foist this insulting, invasive and unconstitutional legislation upon the "home of the free," the Green Party calls for its immediate and complete repeal.

Although, by necessity, there is a focus on rectifying the failed policies of the past, the Green campaign is unique in putting forth a positive and comprehensive vision for the future.

The Green vision is one in which each American has access to health care and can earn a living wage, not merely a minimum wage.
Every other industrialized democracy except South Africa provides universal health care for it citizens, while the U.S. pays more money for insurance and health care than any other nation yet has millions of uninsured citizens.

If you wonder why this is so, consider that insurance company CEOs are the highest paid executives in the U.S. With the amount of money these companies contribute to Congress and to both establishment parties, their presidential candidates need not explain why true health care reform is never enacted, much less considered.

The Green vision is also one of social and racial justice which demands an end to the racist war on drugs and the prison-industrial complex that it has spawned.

Our presidential campaign's vision is one that recognizes that money invested in schools is the ounce of prevention which will reduce spending on so-called "correctional institutions" farther down the road.

The Green vision demands equal rights and statehood for the residents of the District of Columbia and restoring and respecting treaty rights for native American nations.

The Green Party has enjoyed tremendous success at the grassroots level, electing hundreds of local candidates where corporate influence can be countered by knocking on doors and talking with neighbors.

Local officeholders have championed equal rights for gay people to marry as well as programs to control pesticides, improve school lunches and provide a living wage.

We are succeeding against all odds in a money-drenched "two party" system that not only tries to prevent our participation but challenges our very existence.

The author Edward Abbey once wrote, "the cure for the ills of democracy is more democracy." We need more democracy--instant-runoff voting, publicly funded elections, proportional representation and access to the ballot and debates--to adequately represent the diversity of people and opinions that is 21stcentury America.

The Cobb-LaMarche campaign is proud to represent the party of peace, social and racial justice, real democracy and a healthy environment. We encourage you to join the Green Party, vote Green and be part of the growing movement which is creating a better future each and every day.

David Cobb and Patricia LaMarche are the Green Party's candidates for president and vice president. Information about the Cobb-LaMarche campaign can be found at www.votecobb.org. 


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